Bill Roper's Journal

I eventually noticed that there was a klaxon sounding somewhere in the distance. It appears that the building, but not our floor, is on fire somewhere. As a result, the elevators are shut down and I'm sitting here, having been told that we shouldn't go anywhere as we could walk down into a fire. Ok.

There's a fire truck outside, but not much excitement, leading me to believe there's not much in the way of a fire.

I'm hoping that's right.

Update: Well, whatever caused the problem went away, as did the klaxon and the fire truck. I even got to go to lunch...

The Cubs have signed Japanese outfielder Kusoke Fukudome.

Thank God Harry Caray is no longer broadcasting for them.

As you may recall, last Saturday Frys gave me a raincheck for the new TV that I intend to buy and sent me on my way, telling me to call back this week. Today, I called back.

They show two sets in stock. Those would appear to be the same two sets (one missing, one damaged) that were there on Saturday. Further, the fellow I spoke to tells me that they're "discontinued". I asked why, then, they would issue me a raincheck on Saturday rather than telling me that. More questioning elicited the fact that another set is supposed to arrive next Tuesday, odd for a set that is discontinued.

This afternoon, I checked out Amazon's website. They had the TV for a price that would end up being only $30 more than Frys and they would include a free universal remote. There's something to be said for a certainty equivalent in a situation like this, so I added the TV and remote to my shopping cart and went to buy some Christmas presents for Katie.

While I was doing that, they raised the price of the set by $160. Thanks, no.

This would be less irritating if we hadn't special ordered a new TV stand for the beast from our favorite oak furniture store.

The worst case is that I'll end up buying the 2008 model sometime next spring which will have more features and better performance. But in the meantime, I find it a bit irritating.

*sigh*